


The Misadventures Of Lyra Ardent

by Possessed_by_a_remnant



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-09-20 16:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17026347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Possessed_by_a_remnant/pseuds/Possessed_by_a_remnant
Summary: Lyra Ardent and Dexter Vex run into a spot of trouble as they are sent to recover an artifact stolen from the London Sanctuary





	1. Chapter 1

Lyra Ardent wished she had worn her jacket. It was cold in London, and it was starting to rain. She also wished that she wasn’t dangling by her wrist from a 12 storey window. Thankfully, the street was empty, so there would be no mortal witnesses. 

As she thought about this, she became aware of the two men arguing with each other from inside. “I’ll kill her!” shouted the man holding her wrist and she rolled her eyes. His name was Ronan Barrows, and she was beginning to think she didn’t like him very much. “How about you let her go, and I won’t shoot you?” offered the second man, and before she could think about what an astonishingly stupid thing her partner had just said, Barrows did as he was told, and released her. 

Lyra let out a scream as she started to fall. She tried to concentrate, but concentrating seemed to be surprisingly difficult when falling to one’s death. Wings, she thought. I need wings. She felt her body contract and her eyesight sharpen, and she glided through the air. Perhaps pigeons were not the most impressive type of bird, but it would do. She had only been practicing shapeshifting for about six months, but she had turned out to be surprisingly good at it. She landed at the front door of the building she had just fallen from, made sure nobody was watching and returned to her usual human form. 

“Really, Dexter?” she said, breathing hard. “Let her go? What did you think he’d do?” Her partner, Dexter Vex stood before her, looking slightly sheepish. He winced. “I didn’t think he was actually going to drop you.” he said, “If it makes you feel better, I punched him extra hard.” She considered that for a moment, and nodded. “That does make me feel better.” she admitted. 

“Come on, then.” Dexter said, as they walked down the steps, “Barrows is in the car. We can drop him off, and then go to our meeting with the Elders.”  
Lyra frowned. “Meeting?” she asked, “What meeting?”  
“I told you about it in the car,” said Dexter, as he got in behind the wheel, “the Elders want to see us.”  
“Why?” she asked, fastening her seatbelt. She hated meetings.  
“I guess we’ll find out.” he muttered, as he pulled the car out onto the road and drove towards the Sanctuary.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyra and Dexter get to the Sanctuary and are told to retrieve a magic-sucking amulet that has been stolen from the English Sanctuary.

“Are you okay?” asked Dexter, as they sped along the motorway. She shrugged. “Yeah, why?”  
“You were thrown from a twelve storey window.”  
“Well, yeah, but the falling isn’t the dangerous bit. The going splat on the ground bit is.”

They arrived at the Sanctuary and Dexter hauled an unconscious Barrows out of the boot. He passed him to the cleavers that had been waiting for their arrival outside and went with them to fill out a form. They still had ten minutes left until the meeting, so Lyra decided to go find the library. On her way to the library, she passed an older man wearing a robe. He frowned when he saw her and stopped. “What are you doing here?” Lyra frowned right back at him. “None of your business.” she said. The man’s face started to turn red.  
“The Sanctuary is no place for a child!” he exclaimed.  
“Fuck off.”  
She grinned, and left the man to his flustered shouting, found the double doors that led to the library, and went inside. 

When she had found the book she was looking for, she sat down on one of the lush, green armchairs and read for a bit. When it was time to leave, she put back the copy of Monster Hunting For Beginners and joined Dexter in the foyer. From there, they were escorted to a room with a large oval-shaped wooden table. At the table sat the man she had run into in the hallway. She tried a smile. “Hello again.”

The man glared at her. Then he glared at Dexter. “What is this?” he said, “I did not send for a child.”  
“Actually, Grand Mage Vespers,” said Dexter, “yes, you did.”  
“What do you want, Vespers?” asked Lyra, leaning on one of the chairs. Vespers sighed. “Three days ago, an artifact was stolen from our Repository. This artifact happened to be the Hallow Amulet.” Dexter sat down. “I thought that was only a myth.” he said. 

“What does the Hallow Amulet do?” asked Lyra.  
“It absorbs people’s magic,” Dexter answered, “and it’s said that the reason not everyone can do magic is because the creator of the Amulet thought that by using the Amulet, he would gain everyone else’s power.”  
“Rude.”  
“Very rude.”  
“Is there any way to reverse it?”  
“Not that anyone knows of.” 

Vespers interjected, “It is currently in the possession of an elemental by the name of Damien Sharp.” He handed Dexter a file. He skimmed through it and passed it to Lyra. Then, he nodded at Vespers and stood. “We'll find Sharp and return the Amulet.”  
“I sure hope so, Mr. Vex.” said Vespers. Dexter walked out the door, followed by Lyra, who was busy reading the file. “Oh, and Miss Ardent,” he called. She looked over her shoulder. “don’t disappoint me.” She fixed him with a cool stare, and turned around so he wouldn’t see her scowl. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive at Sharp’s mansion and make a plan to get the Amulet

An hour and a half later, they arrived at the address they had found in the file, and Lyra turned into a crow to scout around Sharp’s mansion. It was dark, but with her enhanced bird vision, she could make out the silhouettes of armed guards. She saw a black sedan pull up outside the front gate, and then a guard waved them in and the gates opened. The car stopped outside the front door, and a stout man in a black suit got out. She recognised Damien Sharp from the picture in the file. 

He was bald, and carried a briefcase. He reached the large wooden door and a guard opened it for him. She perched on top of the stone statue in the garden and wondered what was in the briefcase. Before she could get any closer, she heard a gunshot from behind her. She whirled around, and found a guard aiming at her with his rifle. He fired again, and the bullet hit the statue’s shoulder. Chunks of stone sprayed across the cobblestone path. He swore, and another guard ran over to him. As Lyra flew back towards the car, where Dexter was waiting, she almost felt sorry for the guard. From what she’d read, Damien Sharp was a collector, and had once ordered a guard to kill someone who had knocked over an antique vase. She tried not to think about what he would do the the guy who shot the statue. 

She reached the sleek red car and returned to her usual human self. She opened the door and got in. “Sharp is home,” she said. “and there are about ten heavily armed guards outside. I don’t like our odds.”  
“We’ve dealt with worse, and we’re still alive, aren’t we?”  
“I suppose.”  
“It’ll be easy,” he said. “we break in, we steal the Amulet and we bring it back to the Sanctuary. We’ll be fine.” 

She nodded, but didn’t look too convinced. “There are only two guards at the back.” she said. “Think we can knock them out without the others noticing?”  
“Probably.” said Dexter. “Is there a back door?” She nodded. “Perfect. As far as I know, Sharp lives alone, so if we knock him out quickly, the guards won’t show up. We’ll question him, find the Amulet and call the Sanctuary to ask them to send some Cleavers. We’ll bring him to the Sanctuary for further questioning, and return the Amulet to the repository.”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Great,” he said, “let’s go.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They break into Sharp’s house.

At around midnight, they got out of the car and approached the back of the mansion. It was surrounded by a stone wall. Lyra went to the left, Dexter went to the right. She transformed back into a crow and sat on top of the wall. The plan was to distract both of the guards while Dexter climbed the wall and hid behind one of the bushes. She cawed to get the guards’ attention. They looked over at her, and she landed near one of the hedges. She could see Dexter quietly heaving himself over the wall behind the guards. 

Suddenly, she heard a small thud, and before they looked over their shoulders, she flapped her wings and made as much noise as she possibly could. Dexter was directly behind one of the guards now, and he wrapped an arm around the man’s throat. Before the other one could call out for help, she turned back into a human, and punched him in the jaw. He collapsed, and Dexter helped her lower him gently to the ground so as not to make a sound. She nodded towards the back door and they quietly made their way towards it. Dexter tested the handle. It was unlocked. 

The lights were off, but they could see that they were in a stylishly furnished living room. The sound of humming drifted down from upstairs. They glanced at each other and Dexter drew his gun. They reached the top of the marble staircase and turned a corner into a brightly lit hallway. Suddenly, a door opened, and Sharp walked out. He froze. “Hello there,” said Dexter. “you must be Damien Sharp.” Sharp looked around, trying to find a way to escape. When he didn’t find one, he looked at them and paused, obviously trying to come up with a convincing lie. “No, I’m not.” he said. They looked at him, unimpressed. 

“We’re not going to hurt you.” sighed Dexter. “Just tell us where the Amulet is, and we’ll be on our way.”  
“No.” said Sharp.  
“Mr. Sharp,” said Dexter, “you are under arrest for robbery.”  
“Robbery?” he said, looking genuinely confused. “I bought it.”  
“Bought it?” said Lyra.  
“Who did you buy it from?” asked Dexter.  
“An guy named Gallus Crow.” he said, looking frantic. “I didn’t know it was stolen, I swear.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They bring the Amulet back to the Sanctuary

“Crow contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in this Amulet, and of course I said yes.” Sharp continued. “I had no idea he’d stolen it.”  
“Where is it now?” asked Lyra.  
“It’s in my study.” he said dejectedly. “Down the hall to the right.”  
Lyra left Dexter to question Sharp, and went to find the Amulet. She entered the tastefully decorated study and found the Amulet on the mahogany desk. It had a pendant with a red gemstone hanging from a silver chain.

She examined it for a moment, and started looking around the study for any information about Crow. She searched the drawers until she found a torn piece of paper with Crow’s name and a phone number on it. She pocketed the Amulet and the piece of paper and headed back towards Dexter and Sharp. “Got it!” she said.  
“Excellent.” said Dexter, and turned to Sharp. “We’ll be leaving now, thanks for your help.”  
“What about the Amulet?” said Sharp. “I paid a lot of money for that!”  
Lyra and Dexter glanced at each other. Then they both shrugged. “Not our problem,” said Lyra, and with that, they made their way back down the stairs and left through the back door. 

When they got back in the car, Lyra took out the Amulet, the red gemstones glinting in the light of the street lamps. It had symbols carved on the metal, and something in a language she couldn’t understand engraved on the back. When they reached the Sanctuary, she handed the Amulet to the administrator, who took an eyepiece out of the pocket of her coat. She scanned the Amulet through the eyepiece and frowned. She looked more closely. Then her head snapped up and she looked at Vespers. “This isn’t the Amulet.” she said. They walked quickly to the other side of the room and exchanged hushed words. Vespers glanced at the Amulet, which was still on the table and scowled. He massaged the bridge of his nose and they walked back to where Lyra and Dexter were standing.  
“Did we get the wrong one?” asked Dexter, puzzled.  
“No,” the administrator said, “it’s a fake.”

Crow, Lyra realised. Gallus Crow had taken the real one and swapped it with a fake. “Do you happen to have any information about a man named Gallus Crow?” she asked. “Other than the fact that he’s a stolen antiques dealer here in London and he’s a mortal, no. We’ve been after him for years.” Vespers sighed. “We will increase your payment to half a million each if you two manage to find Crow and bring him here.” Lyra considered this. What on earth would she do with half a million dollars? After all, she was only fifteen. She couldn’t buy a house, or a car, and she didn’t even really want to. Besides, she didn’t even know how to drive. The one time she had driven a car was when she and Dexter had gone to America. They had been staying in the middle of nowhere and Dexter had let her take the car for a drive. She had almost crashed into the house they were staying at, but apart from a large scratch on the side of the car, everything had turned out fine. Dexter nodded, and turned to her, waiting for her reply. She shrugged. “Sure,” she said. “Sounds better than school.” 

When they got back to the hotel, she gave the piece of paper to Dexter, who then called Crow and while he was setting up a meeting, Lyra began to practice her magic. She started off with energy throwing, which was pretty easy. Her palm started to glow, and green energy crackled around her hand. Then, she tried it with the other hand. Her aim still wasn’t very good, but she had only been learning magic for about a year. Then came shapeshifting. That was harder. She had to memorise little details about whatever animal she shifted into, and if she shifted into another human, she had to know what their voice sounded like. She could also mimic people’s voices in her usual form, much to Dexter’s discomfort. She supposed it would be weird to hear him talking to her in her voice. Last time she had trained with Vanessa, the pretty, dark haired American friend of Dexter’s, she had learned how to turn into a snake. She had been able to shift into a snake without a problem. The hard part had been moving. It had been strange to not have arms and legs, and she hadn’t quite worked out how to move. 

She had watched Vanessa slither gracefully across the floor, but when Lyra had tried to do it, she ended up frantically flopping about. Vanessa and Dexter had found that hilarious. This time, though, she was determined to get it right. She lay down on her stomach in the living room, and pictured the type of snake she wanted to be. Nothing deadly, she thought. She didn’t want to accidentally bite her tongue and die. She didn’t know if snakes were immune to their own venom, and she wasn’t going to take any risks. She felt her body lengthen and stretch and her clothes melted away, and suddenly she was a small python. Right, she thought. I can do this. She ignored the thoughts that happened every time she shifted. Thoughts that told her to eat mice, or worms, or whatever the hell the animal she happened to be at the time ate. She tried to focus. She began to move in the way she had seen Vanessa move. Slowly, she twisted her body and slithered along the floor. She attempted to twist her body into a knot, but realised she would get stuck. She slithered onto the couch and returned to her human form. 

As soon as she did that, Dexter walked in and sat in the comfortable armchair. “Crow’s meeting us at a restaurant tomorrow evening” he said. He continued to tell her the rest of the plan. They would meet Crow at the restaurant pretending to be some wealthy sorcerer and his niece. They would use fake names and would pretend to want to buy an ancient, priceless book about symbols and he would sell them a fake. They would then take him to the Sanctuary, and recover the real artifacts. It sounded simple enough, Lyra thought. “You should get some rest.” he said. He was right. Lyra was exhausted. She nodded, had a shower and got into bed. She fell asleep almost instantly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyra experiences one of the downsides of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I’m back again! Took a bit of a break because of writer’s block, but I’ve finally managed to write chapter six. Let me know what you think!

Lyra opened her bedroom window, slipping inside. “Hey.” She said to her reflection, who was busy doing her English homework. The reflection looked up from her laptop. “Hello.” It said, looking at Lyra with its usual unsettlingly blank stare. “How was Moscow?” 

“It was great.” Said Lyra, putting her duffel bag on the bed. “I’m beyond exhausted, though. Jet lag’s a real bitch.”  
The reflection nodded. “I’m nearly done with your homework, would you like me to keep going until it’s done?” 

Lyra shoved her dirty clothes into a laundry basket that she would remind herself to deal with in the morning.  
“When’s it due?” She asked.  
“Tuesday.”  
“What day is it now?”  
“Friday.”  
Lyra pulled her pyjama top on, and climbed into bed. “Nah.” She said. “Just leave it. I’ll do it over the weekend. Thank you, though.”  
“Sure.” Said the reflection, and closed the laptop. It stood up, and lingered at the desk for a moment, idly twirling a pen. 

“What are you doing?” Lyra yawned, her eyes half closed.  
“I’m not getting back in that mirror.”  
Lyra’s eyes snapped open. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” The reflection replied in its dull monotone. “I’m not getting back in the mirror.”  
Lyra got out of bed, and carefully approached the reflection. “Why do you not want to go back in the mirror?” She asked slowly.  
“Because it’s not fair.” The reflection turned, and Lyra saw her own face sneering at her. “It’s not fair that you get to go on adventures, and I’m stuck doing your schoolwork.” 

Lyra backed up. The reflection must have seen the shock and fear on her face, because it laughed. “Look at you.” It said. “You’re not cut out for this. You’re scared of your own reflection, for God’s sake.”  
Lyra’s blood boiled. “Scared of you?” She spat. “You’re not even a real fucking person. There’s no way in hell you could manage going on a mission without magic. Besides, Dexter would notice you’re not me.”

A slow, eerie smile crept across the reflection’s face. “That doesn’t matter.” It said. “By the time he notices, you’ll be long dead.” Before Lyra could react, the reflection surged forward, plunging the pen into Lyra’s throat. 

Lyra gasped and sat up, her hand clutching her throat. She regulated her breathing and reassured herself that she was fine, it was just a bad dream, that’s all. She lay under the covers for a few minutes, contemplating going back to sleep. She eventually decided against it, and got up. She took a shower, trying to scrub off the lingering unease from her dream, and met Dexter downstairs in the lobby for breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

“Just out of interest,” Lyra said, trying to sound casual, “how do you tell if your reflection is malfunctioning?”  
Dexter looked up from his waffles. “What do you mean?” He asked, alarmed. “What happened?”  
Lyra sighed, and took a sip of coffee. “Nothing happened,” she said, “everything’s fine. I was just wondering.”

“I don’t know.” Said Dexter, calming down. “Why do you ask? Is it behaving strangely? Because if it is, that might be because it’s your reflection, and you often behave strangely.” 

“Oh, shut up. It’s not being weird or anything, I just had a dream last night where it stabbed me to death with a pen.”

Dexter blinked. “Yikes.” He said. Then, after a pause, “A pen? What kind of murder weapon is that?” 

Lyra stared at him. “Are you kidding me?” She asked. “That’s what you’re getting from this? A shitty murder weapon? It was a dream, Dexter. Dreams are weird like that. What I meant was that dreaming about being stabbed to death by your clone is highly disturbing and I want to know how to tell if it malfunctions before it kills me in real life.” 

“All I’m saying is if you’re going to murder someone, don’t do it with a pen. Do it with a-“ 

He noticed an elderly couple sitting behind them who were now also staring at him, and gave them an embarrassed nod. “Anyway,” he continued, lowering his voice, “I’m not sure how to tell. If it starts doing anything out of the ordinary, let me know and we’ll make sure it doesn’t get a hold of any pens, alright?” 

“Yeah.” She said, pushing her breakfast around her plate. She found herself wondering what the reflection had meant when it said she wasn’t cut out for this. Of course, she needed some practice, but she could handle being a sorcerer. She was yanked from her thoughts by the sudden realisation that Dexter was talking. 

“-what do you think?” He asked.  
Lyra hesitated, trying to think of what he might have said. She had no idea, so she gave a non-commital shrug. “Uh, sure.” 

That seemed like the right thing to say, because he grinned at her and stood up. “Great.” He said. “I’ll meet you outside in five minutes.” And with that, he headed back towards his room. Lyra didn’t know what else to do, so she went back to hers. She grabbed her phone and her armoured jacket, and headed outside.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magic lessons

“Are we there yet?”  
“No.” 

A pause. 

“Are we there now?”  
“No.”

“When do we get there?”  
Dexter shrugged. They had been driving for over an hour, and were now surrounded by lush, green countryside. It had stopped raining for the first time since they had gotten there, which had been about four days ago. Lyra could faintly see what may have been the sun, but she wasn’t quite sure. It was times like these when she missed Melbourne’s unpredictable weather. 

“We’ll get there when we get there.”  
“Do you know where you’re going?”

Another shrug. “Yeah, kind of.”  
“Right. And where are we going again?”  
“Somewhere without cameras.”

She gasped. “Why? Are we hiding a body?”

Dexter looked at her, confused, then laughed. “What? What kind of terrible- No, we’re not hiding a bloody body, Lyra. We’re going to practice magic, I told you this this morning. We’re in the middle of nowhere because we can’t let people and security cameras see you shapeshift.”

Ah. So that’s what he had been saying.  
“Oh, yeah.” Said Lyra unconvincingly. “I remember.”  
He gave her a look that told her he didn’t buy it for one second, and pulled the car off the dirt road with a bump. “This should do.” He declared. “We are now officially in the middle of nowhere.”

“Why didn’t we just go somewhere where there’s lots of sorcerers?” Lyra asked. “You told me about how there are, like, sorcerer communities in some places. I’m sure there’s lots around London.”

Dexter thought about this for a second. “Yeah, that might have been a better idea, actually.” He concluded. “Didn’t think of that. It would have meant I wouldn’t have had to sit in the car with you for an hour with you asking me if we were there yet every five minutes.” Lyra grinned. 

“Anyway,” he continued, “we’re here now, so we might as well get some training done.” 

With that, they got out of the car and trudged towards one of the massive fields. It always surprised Lyra how green Europe was. The fields in Australia weren’t green, they were usually more of a dull yellow. Neither were the trees. Most trees were a greyish brown sort of colour, with dull green leaves. In comparison, Europe looked like a cartoon. 

Thankfully, there was no cow shit, so the fields were safe to walk on. They found a nice, sunny spot, and Dexter sat down. 

“Did you get any practice done since last time?”  
“A bit,” Lyra said, “but not a lot. I think I’m getting better at being a snake, though.” She fished her phone out of her pocket, searched for something, then handed the phone to Dexter. “Vanessa gave me a list of animals I should try to shift into. Read out the list and I’ll see if I can do it.”

He nodded, reading through the list. “Let’s start at the bottom of the food chain and work our way up.” He suggested. “Okay, let’s see. How about a pigeon?”

Lyra closed her eyes and thought of pigeons. She had managed to transform into one the other day, but she didn’t feel like a pigeon now. “Am I still a person?” She asked.  
“Yep.”  
Lyra sighed. “It’s so much easier to shift when I’m panicking or just not thinking about it.”  
“Then don’t think about it.” Dexter replied.  
It seemed simple enough. She let her mind wander. She pictured a pigeon and vaguely thought about how it had felt when Barrows had thrown her from that building. Lyra looked down. 

Sure enough, it had worked. She shuffled her wings a bit, feeling the light breeze on her feathers. She imagined what she usually looked like, and shifted back. “Good,” said Dexter, “now try a cat.”  
Lyra thought about cats, and felt her muscles and bones contract until she had fully transformed into a grey tabby. 

“How about a hawk?”  
“Sure.” She said. “What do they look like again?”  
“You don’t know what they look like?”  
“No. I know they’ve got wings, and claws, but so do lots of other birds.”

After a quick google search, Lyra pictured a hawk in her mind, and shifted. It occurred to her that she had only flown a handful of times, and all of those times had been when she’d fallen from something. Taking off from the ground couldn’t have been too hard, though, right? She rather wisely chose to take a running start, and flapped her massive wings. After a few minutes spent running, flapping, and getting laughed at, Lyra stopped. 

It looked so easy when birds did it. But then again, flying was the main mode of transportation for most birds, so they had obviously had some practice. One more shot couldn’t hurt. She ran again, jumped, and flapped, and felt her taloned feet lift off the ground. After a little more flapping, Lyra was soon high in the air, looking out over the countryside. A perk of being a hawk was having fantastic eyesight. Lyra spotted a mouse in a field. One of the downsides of being a hawk was that she wanted to eat said mouse. 

She allowed gravity to take her back to the ground, but shifted a little too early, and hit the grass with a thud. She rolled onto her back, groaning. “I really need to work on my landings.” She said as Dexter helped her to her feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I would really appreciate some feedback on this, so please comment what you thought!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undercover time! Also, Dexter is a closeted nerd and I will fight anyone on this.

They got back to the hotel in plenty of time for Lyra to take a shower and get changed. Her muscles ached, as they always did when she shifted a little too much. She knew that they were going someplace fancier than the places she usually ate at, which meant that she couldn’t wear her shirt with Gordon Ramsay quotes on it. She opted for high waisted trousers and a nice top, and decided to do some yoga for a bit. Lyra enjoyed yoga. Not only did she find it relaxing, but it also kept her muscles supple for shape shifting and gymnastics. Fortunately for Lyra, countless hours spent twisting and flipping and sitting in freezing ice baths had perfectly prepared her for shapeshifting. There were a shocking amount of similarities between the two hobbies, Lyra realised. For one, rearranging her molecules into large animals usually left Lyra with deep muscle aches. It wasn’t so bad when she shifted into small animals or people, but large creatures often required days of recovery.

Awhile later, it was time to go. Lara and Dexter got in the car and buckled the seat belts. “Okay,” said Dexter. “let’s get our story straight. My name is Coriaceous Who, and you’re my niece, Luna Zygon.”  
She nodded. “Okay.”  
“Get it?” He asked, grinning. “Zygon?”  
Lyra stared at him blankly. “What the fuck is a Zygon?”  
He faltered. “It’s a reference to... because you’re a... never mind. Just pretend you’re some wealthy sorcerer, okay?”

Lyra nodded. She had seen Real Housewives, so she knew what rich people were like. Her mum had always told her that watching Real Housewives wasn’t educational and that it was “rotting her brain.” Oh, how wrong her mother was about to be. 

They were escorted to the table by a waiter, and found that there were already two men sitting at the table, being eyed warily by the other patrons. The other patrons included a burly, bearded man who looked to be in his fifties and was dressed like a biker, a prim looking elderly couple, and a young couple who appeared to be on their first date. As they walked towards their table, Lyra looked back at the men, and then at Dexter.  
“Which one is Gallus Crow?” She whispered.  
“Neither of them.” Dexter whispered back, frowning.

They sat down and shook hands with the men. “Our apologies,” one of them said, “Mr. Crow couldn’t make it today.”  
“This is highly unprofessional.” Dexter said, and Lyra tried her best to look as bored as possible, and not at all nervous.  
“Mr. Crow asked us to sincerely apologise on his behalf.” The second man said. “He had urgent matters to attend to elsewhere.”  
“I see.”

Lyra could tell Dexter wasn’t convinced, and neither was she. Before she could enquirer as to the nature of the ‘urgent matters’, the first man brought out a briefcase and set it on the table in front of Lyra. He caught her eye, and she tacked a bland smile onto her face.  
“This, young lady, is the Hallow Amulet.” He said condescendingly, taking it out of the briefcase. 

Lyra fought the urge to slap him. She had dealt with her fair share of being talked down to and was well used to it by now, but she still couldn’t stand it. She clenched her fist under the table, and pretended not to be furious. “It’s very pretty.” She lied. “May I hold it?”

“Certainly.” Said the man, and passed it to her. As soon as the amulet touched the palm of her hand, Lyra felt the power emanate off it. It occurred to her that she could so easily use the amulet to take the magic from the two men opposite her, but she decided it might be best not to. She gave Dexter a small nod of confirmation, and gave the amulet back. 

The rest of the meeting went well. Dexter had already arranged the payment. Six million pounds, which the Sanctuary would reimburse them for. It was an insane amount of money. Lyra was aware that she had accumulated almost two million from her adventures with Dexter, but she still couldn’t quite wrap her little blonde head around how much money it was for a fifteen-year-old to have. Besides, it wasn’t like she ever really used it. Dexter usually paid for flights and things like that, and insisted she “save it for when you’re older”. Her family would become very suspicious if she suddenly started buying herself expensive things. 

Eventually, Crow’s men left, leaving Lyra and Dexter to finish their drinks. Neither of them spoke as a feeling of unease settled over them. Lyra tried to convince herself that it was nothing, but she couldn’t take that risk.  
“Something’s wrong.” She said quietly, and Dexter put down his wine and nodded. He flipped the latches on the briefcase and opened it. It was empty. 

“What-“ Lyra began, and Dexter shushed her. He put his head close to the briefcase, and Lyra did the same. As she listened closely, she heard a faint ticking sound. In a split second, Dexter was up out of his chair.  
“Everybody out!” He yelled at the startled patrons and staff. They seemed to sense his and Lyra’s panic, and nobody argued with him. Lyra helped the elderly couple, and gently but quickly guided them towards the exit.

She turned back to check if there was anyone still inside the restaurant. To her horror, the biker stood there, opening the briefcase. She ran in, yelling at him to stop.  
“Get out.” The man commanded in a thick London accent. “I’ve got it sorted.”

Then, a lot of things happened very fast. Dexter appeared beside her, trying to drag her towards the exit, telling her to go and that he would handle the biker. People outside were yelling, and Lyra could hear police sirens in the distance. 

And then the restaurant exploded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> boom.

Time seemed to move in slow-motion. Dexter tackled Lyra to the ground as the explosion shook the restaurant. Then, for a moment, there was only silence. Lyra opened her eyes, dazedly staring at the ceiling. Around her, windows were broken, bottles were smashed and tables were knocked over. A loud ringing filled her ears, and she tried to sit up, but there was something heavy on top of her preventing her from moving. 

Strong hands lifted the heavy thing off of her, and Lyra realised that the heavy thing had been Dexter. He wasn’t moving, and smoke rose from the back of his smouldering shirt. The biker laid him on the floor and patted out the small flame with a hand. Dexter groaned. 

“We need to go.” The biker said urgently. “Now.”   
Lyra rose unsteadily to her feet, her mind still slightly numb. “Go where?”  
“My husband is a doctor.” He said. “He can fix your friend. We’re not all going to fit on my bike, do you have a car?” 

Lyra nodded.   
“Great. Where are the keys?”  
Lyra wasn’t sure if giving this strange, bearded man Dexter’s car keys was a good idea, but she couldn’t see any better option. She realised she was probably in shock, so she couldn’t drive him.   
“Dexter has them.” She said, and gestured at her unconscious partner. 

The bearded man rolled Dexter onto his side and grabbed the car keys out of his pocket. He then heaved Dexter over his shoulder with a grunt, and gestured for Lyra to lead the way.


End file.
